It was late when Germany got home. Walking into the house, he almost didn't notice Prussia and Canada leaning against each other, sleeping. He was slightly relived that he wouldn't have to talk to his brother; he didn't know where Italy was but he didn't want to know why he had left. Despite being nervous about the ball on the following day, he fell asleep as soon as he got into bed.

*Hetalia!*

Germany woke up to the scent of frying brat wurst. He checked the clock, it was five before six. Who could that be? Curious, he got up and dressed quickly.

Prussia was in the kitchen with Canada making breakfast. Canada appeared to be doing the majority of the work, while Prussia stood around giving moral support. Where is Italy? They grinned as he entered the room.

"Good morning, bruder!" Prussia called.

"Ja. Good."

At the slightly sour response, Prussia and Canada exchanged worried glances.

"M-mr. Germany? Um d-do you want to join me and P-prussia for breakfast?" Canada stuttered.

"Nien," Germany snapped. What if he's not here because of something I did?

*Hetalia!*

America's ball started at noon, but almost everyone was there by eleven. The plan was set, everything was in place. A few minor dramatics (mostly from Belarus) and one costume malfunction (America's wild west boot fringe made him trip) happened between that time and the time Germany and Antarctica showed up.

Germany was dressed in white sailor suit with a light blue trim, and Antarctica had a stunningly sequined blue and gold dress. True to whom she was imitating, she immediately drew the eyes of every man in the room. She swept into the room and headed straight to talk to Hungary and Austria, leaving Germany standing alone as Italy and Maine arrived.

With nothing better to do, Germany walked over to them and complimented Maine on her excellent impersonation of Austria. When he turned to Italy, he was dumbstruck. Somehow, the dyed-blond country had stolen some of his clothes and was masquerading as him. Why would the dummkopf do -? His thoughts were interrupted when Maine quickly dismissed herself. An awkward silence fell between Germany and Italy.

"Gutentag," Germany muttered.

"H-hi Germany!" sang Italy, slightly less cheerful than usual. "Look, I'm you!"

"Ja. I see that. Are you implying something between me and Austria?"

Italy began to laugh, and, to his surprise, Germany joined in. The awkwardness left, and all of a sudden the typical american-held ball fell into place. America cranked up the radio and grabbed the nearest girl, who happened to be Ukraine, and began swing dancing with her. The other country pairs filed onto the dance floor; Belarus and Russia, Maine and Italy, Prussia and Canada, France and a random maid.

*Hetalia!*

Antarctica found a reason to leave Germany for a minute, so he looked around the room. Maine had just left Italy to get more soda, so the shortish country was also looking around. Prussia slyly put on a slow song, specifically the same song that he had seen them dancing to a couple days before. They looked right at each other, and, mainly because neither had a partner for the dance, began to walk to the dance floor. Meeting on the edge of the crowded floor, they stood for a moment, both humming the tune. Prussia, who just happened to swirl by with Ukraine, whispered in their direction "Dance!"

Carefully, Germany put his hand on Italy's hip and pulled him closer. The pair didn't notice, but those in on the plan stopped what they were doing in order to observe what would happen next. Maine snapped a picture of the countries as they began to dance together.

At the end of the song, Germany went to let go of Italy when the shorter country leaned forward and kissed him quickly on the cheek. In shock, the blond stared at him. Then, he slowly kissed Italy's cheek, before cautiously pulling back an inch. They looked at each other, not saying a word but understanding everything at once. Carefully, Germany leaned in to fully kiss Italy, and Italy returned the kiss.

*Hetalia!*

Despite the best efforts of the other countries, Germany and Italy remained nothing more than good friends. They stayed with their dates until the end of the dance, even giving their respective girls a goodnight kiss before leaving. Romano took Italy home and Prussia left with Germany, just as they would have had the kiss never happened.

This shocked everyone, but no one knew what to do about it.